Transporting a vehicle such as an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) in the back of a pickup truck or on the bed of a trailer is a common technique for transporting a vehicle to a recreational area for use. Such vehicles have suspension systems that incorporate springs or similar structures that compress to absorb the shock of obstructions encountered in the road or ground being used by the ATV. The suspension systems permit the wheels to retract toward the vehicle body to minimize the impact of obstacles striking wheels or tires. When such vehicles are loaded onto the bed of a truck or trailer, they must be secured in place to prevent their movement during transport. Typically, straps or cables are attached or releasably secured to the chassis of the vehicle to maintain its position during transport on the bed of the truck or trailer.
As the truck or trailer moves over the ground, particularly if it is off-road, the violent shaking and bouncing imparted to the chassis of the vehicle on the bed results in the continuous compression and decompression of the springing system of the vehicle. As the springs are compressed, the cables or straps secured to the chassis are relaxed—that is, they lose the tension that was intentionally imposed to secure the chassis in place on the bed. As the strap tension is released, the forces securing the vehicle to the bed are relieved permitting the vehicle to move with respect to the bed surface and frequently resulting in the loss of sufficient tie-down force to maintain the vehicle in place. When the road over which the truck or trailer is passing is extremely rough, or if the truck is driving off-road, it is possible for the vehicle being transported to be damaged as a result of the violence of the repeated release of tie-down tension followed by the violent application of that tension as the suspension system/springs of the ATV rebound.